The ride into work the next morning was vibrant. The crisp morning air was better than ten cups of coffee. There was just enough salt in the breeze to remind me that we live close to the Oregon coast. The oak and cottonwood trees were beginning to change colors and the Douglas firs were their usual fragrant selves. I pulled into my customary parking lot in the faculty lot by my building. It was my customary spot because I am usually among the first faculty to arrive for my day at this small yet renowned institution of higher education, so I get to chose. The night before had left a glow in my cheeks. I count myself as the luckiest man I know.
I left my car in the lot and headed up to my office. I stopped in the secretaries vestibule and started a pot of strong Seattle coffee brewing. I don't drink much coffee anymore, but I do enjoy the smell of it brewing. I keyed my door open and felt a rush of stale air, unstirred by the buildings unwieldy air system. I opted to open my window and let in some fresh dawn breeze to clean the stale rancor from the room. I looked down from my window and spied a young coed jogging by in the traditional garb of our campuses runners. I appreciated her youth and energy, not really passing any thoughts of her attractiveness or feminine figure. Spring really is a time for rebirth.
The passing runner looked up. Even though her red hair was pulled back and tied tightly in a ball, I could see that it was Dawn Maschmann, the young woman who I had let retake an exam the day before. She waved and I nodded and half-waved in return. She kept running and I kept watching, the words of my graduate assistant still ringing in my mind from the day before. Where I hadn't been thinking of Dawn in a sexual way, the sex from the night before was still fresh in my mind and I could help a quick fantasy that it was Dawn and not Rebecca that I had had sex with. I was pleased with the thoughts but not so much that my battle-worn cock was considering rising from it's slumber. Too bad.
I left my office and strolled back to the secretaries alcove and poured myself a cup of strong rich coffee. I heard the door in the lobby downstairs open. The woman who delivers the Oregonian usually arrives after I do and I expected that this was her. I moseyed over to the stairs and started down. As I round the turn I see Dawn Maschmann headed right for me.
"Good morning Professor. I'm surprised to see you up so early. Classes don't start for another two hours."
"Three for me, Miss Maschmann. I come in early to answer my mail, read the paper, catch up on my work, and enjoy a cup of coffee. I don't recall ever seeing you out running before." She looked a bit guilty at that.
"I don't usually run," she admitted. I took a moment to appraise her comely shape and found that she certainly wasn't lacking in muscle tone. Her nylon top fit snugly and her breasts seemed larger than I remembered, but she had a habit of wearing loose fitting sweaters and sweatshirts to class. Her thighs were long and had that definition along the side that showed her thigh muscles were developed and her hamstrings were taut. Her calves were high and defined with nice edge to the muscles. "I usually work out doing pilates and spinning, but since I get to go to Cancun for Spring Break, I thought I'd better burn off a few more calories so I won't be embarrassed in my two-piece."
"I don't think that's possible, Miss Maschmann. You have a lovely figure and will make all the young men you see take notice."
"You are just too nice, Professor Daniels. The boys don't ever notice me. I just don't want to look fat." She patted her flat stomach.
"You are wrong on both accounts, Dawn. The boys DO notice and you are far from anyone considering you fat."
"Do you really think so?" she asked honestly. She peered down at her own figure, turning her head to try to get a glimpse of her own behind. "What about my tummy?" She pulled up just a small piece of her shirt and revealed what was clearly the flat stomach of someone who takes her pilates seriously.
"You have nothing at all to be ashamed of. Like I said yesterday, you hide your light under a bushel basket. Perhaps that's out of kindness. If you let your light shine, you'd distract the other students in my class, driving the boys crazy and the girls insane with jealousy."
"Stop it!" She turned and blushed. "I try to get noticed sometimes, but when I do, it never works out the way I plan." I took a sip of coffee.
"Perhaps you are being too subtle. Have you ever thought about being direct with the boy?"
"No," she answered honestly, clearly bothered. "I don't know how."
"Well," I replied equally honestly, " I don't know either, but I will buy you a cup of coffee and we can discuss it up in my office if you'd like."
She looked past me and down the corridor on the second floor. She looked down the stairs in the first corridor. I couldn't tell if she was looking for an escape route or for an excuse not to come up.
"I don't mean to be pushy, Dawn. I thought you might want to talk about it. If I have made you uncomfortable again, I apologize. I was only offering an ear to listen. Why don't you go finish your run and I will see you in class after the break." I turned and started up the stairs alone.
"No professor, that's not it at all. I just don't want to get you into trouble, that's all." That should have set off an alarm in my head, but I'll be honest, it didn't.
"Dawn, I am a tenured professor and you are my student. Just what kind of trouble do you think I would get into?" Our eyes locked and then it occurred to me that the kind of trouble I might get into is the kind of trouble that causes tenured professors to lose their tenures.
"You're right professor. No trouble at all. How about that cup of coffee?"
We walked together to the secretaries station and poured her a cup and proceeded down the hall to my office. I made a point of allowing her to enter first and then coming in and leaving the hall door open. As I sat down she got back up and crossed to the door and closed it, locking it as well. I was beginning to see the light.
